Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair Safe for Mitral Regurgitation

MONDAY, June 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR), transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair is safe and has a high rate of success, according to a study published in the May 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Raj R. Makkar, M.D., from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues examined outcomes among 19,088 U.S. patients (median age, 82 years) with isolated moderate-to-severe or severe degenerative MR who underwent nonemergency transcatheter mitral valve repair with the MitraClip device from 2014 to 2022.

The researchers found that 88.9 percent of the patients achieved MR repair success. The incidence rates of death, stroke, and mitral valve reintervention were 2.7, 1.2, and 0.97 percent, respectively, at 30 days. Compared with an unsuccessful procedure, MR success was associated with significantly lower mortality (14.0 versus 26.7 percent; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.49) and heart failure readmission (8.4 versus 16.9 percent; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.47) at one year. Among patients with MR success, those who had both mild or less residual MR and mean mitral gradients of 5 mm Hg or less had the lowest mortality compared with those with an unsuccessful procedure (11.4 versus 26.7 percent; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.40).

“These strong safety and efficacy outcomes were validated, despite the advanced age and significant comorbidities of these patients,” Makkar said in a statement.

Several authors report ties to pharmaceutical and medical device companies, including Abbott, the maker of the MitraClip device.

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